Publisher
Media group Axel Springer expands its board of directors
The new building of the Axel Springer publishing house in Berlin. Photo: Soeren Stache/dpa-Zentralbild/dpa
© dpa-infocom GmbH
Axel Springer wants to grow more strongly in the US media business and is underpinning this with the presence of a member of the Executive Board in the USA. The committee is also being restructured – and is getting bigger again.
The media group Axel Springer is expanding its board of directors from four to five members.
Manager Ulrike Handel (50) will join the committee on May 1st as the person responsible for the national media business with the “Bild” and “Welt” brands, and Niddal Salah-Eldin (36) on July 1st for the new “Talent & Culture», as the media group announced in Berlin. Salah-Eldin is currently in a leading position at Springer and is responsible for the in-house academy, which combines the training of journalists and tech talents, and was previously deputy editor-in-chief at dpa from 2019 to 2021.
The previous board member Stephanie Caspar (48), responsible for the Internet classifieds business segment, is also leaving the company on July 31 “by mutual agreement”, as Springer said. The media magazine “Medieninsider” reported first. The classifieds business department is to be redesigned after a possible IPO of the online job portal StepStone.
Focus on USA
With the new members, the Management Board will continue to consist of CEO Mathias Döpfner (59), Jan Bayer (51), who will be appointed as deputy on July 1 and will drive US business, and Julian Deutz (54), who responsible for finance and human resources.
According to the announcement, Springer Supervisory Board Chairman Ralph Büchi said: “With the expansion of the Executive Board, Axel Springer can continue the successful growth course after the last acquisitions in the USA.” Springer CEO Döpfner added: “I’m looking forward to the next phase of the company’s development with an expanded and rejuvenated Executive Board.”
Recently it became known that after the purchase of US media brands, including the important brand “Politico”, Springer is focusing on the USA with a restructuring of the board. Springer called the deal in October 2021 its largest company takeover in the company’s history. Bayer will be active in the USA for at least a year starting in the summer. So far he has been responsible for all media brands – both nationally and internationally.
Springer wants to grow faster in its digital business and entered into a strategic partnership with the US financial investor Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR) in 2019. Springer, with its headquarters in Berlin and around 16,000 employees worldwide, also withdrew from the stock exchange in 2020.
Higher priority for people topics
Parts of the newly created “Talent & Culture” board department, which Salah-Eldin will be responsible for in the future, were previously Deutz’s area of responsibility. According to Springer, the new layout should bring these topics even more into focus than before. The different cultural challenges in the various areas of the company and all other people-related issues are given the highest priority.
As a board member, Salah-Eldin will continue to be responsible as Managing Director and Chair of the Managing Board of FreeTech – Axel Springer Academy of Journalism and Technology. The 36-year-old had already worked for Springer before becoming Deputy Editor-in-Chief and Head of Innovation and Product at the German Press Agency (dpa). Between 2014 and 2019, she headed the social media and digital innovation department at the media brand Welt.
The trading manager also worked for Springer for several years. Between 2000 and 2011 she held various management positions, including being a member of the publishing management of the Welt Group. This was followed by positions at marketing companies.